Odey funds ‘mooting investor withdrawal curb’ amid shake up after founder ousted
Odey Asset Management announced on Saturday that Crispin Odey would be leaving after a series of allegations of misconduct.
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Your support makes all the difference.EU funds managed by scandal-hit Odey Asset Management are reportedly considering restrictions to curb investor withdrawals as the firm looks to stabilise the business following assault allegations against its founder Crispin Odey.
The firm, which had 4.8 billion US dollars (£3.8 billion) in assets under management as of last September, announced replacements of key funds run by its ousted founder, Mr Odey, late on Sunday.
It said Mr Odey’s main hedge fund will be run by his co-manager Freddie Neave as part of the shake up.
It comes as the partnership looks to further distance itself from Mr Odey after announcing on Saturday that he would be leaving following a series of allegations of misconduct.
He denies the allegations.
It is understood that curbs on investors pulling out their cash are being mooted amid fears of a rush to withdraw over the coming days, according to the Financial Times (FT).
The boards of some of its EU investment funds, called Ucits, are said to be looking at so-called gating to avoid a run on the funds.
It follows a report in the FT, together with Tortoise Media, last Thursday which included several allegations of sexual harassment or misconduct from women who either worked at the firm or had social or professional dealings with Mr Odey.
The allegations involve 13 women who claim Mr Odey abused or harassed them, with eight of the 13 saying he sexually assaulted them.
The report sparked the Financial Conduct Authority to widen an investigation into the asset manager and some of the firm’s key banks and brokers to review or cut their ties with the group.
Odey Asset Management said late on Sunday, ahead of the stock market opening on Monday, that Mr Neave will take over full responsibility of the Odey European Inc (OEI) and OEI Mac hedge funds.
James Hanbury will now run the Odey Opus Fund and Oliver Kelton will take responsibility for the Odey Pan European Fund.
It said it was considering options to put to the fund board regarding the Odey Swan Fund, which “may include an option to close the fund”.
Rubbish
The fund will continue to be run by Mr Neave in the meantime.
“We plan to announce a complete rebrand of the partnership in the near future,” it said in a further move to contain the fallout.
Announcing Mr Odey’s departure on Saturday, it said he will “no longer have any economic or personal involvement in the partnership”.
The statement, signed by chief executive Peter Martin and chief financial officer Michael Ede, said the firm investigated the allegations concerning Mr Odey but “cannot comment in detail as it is bound by legal obligations of confidentiality”.
The alleged incidents happened between 1998 and 2021, the FT reported after interviewing 40 former employees at Odey Asset Management.
In a statement to the FT, Mr Odey described the claims as “rubbish”.